Spike synchronization of chaotic oscillators as a phase transition.
We study how a locally coupled array of spiking chaotic systems synchronizes to an external driving in a short time. Synchronization means spike separation at adjacent sites much shorter than the average inter-spike interval; a local lack of synchronization is called a defect. The system displays sudden spontaneous defect disappearance at a critical coupling strength suggesting an existence of a phase transition. Below critical coupling, the system reaches order at a definite amplitude of an external input; this order persists for a fixed time slot. Thus, the array behaves as an excitable-like system, even though the single element lacks such a property.
Ciszak
M
M
C.N.R.-Istituto Nazionale di Ottica Applicata, L.go E. Fermi 6, 50125, Florence, Italy. marzena.ciszak@inoa.it
Montina
A
A
Arecchi
F T
FT
D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D009991:Oscillometry / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors